Taking Care
by UntoldStories113
Summary: Riley was a good kid. She might not be ecstatic or anything, but she had always seen the reason in his interventions. She knew he was just watching over her, right? (Contains spoilers. Started pre-, finished post-movie.)
1. Uhtceare

**Timeline note:** Set post-movie, see below.

 **Dedication:** To buttoncatcher, for being terrified for my sake that after all that hype, watching the actual movie might leave me majorly disappointed.

 **Note:** Right, I really wanted to publish this before seeing the movie on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure that it's gonna contradict the technicalities of my story so much that I'll lose interest in pursuing the idea, and since I really like this… yeah. ;) If they're in any way reconcilable, I'll probably rewrite this.

Sorry for the long author's note, but since this is set post-movie, I'm going to assume several things about the end of the movie. These are based on trailers and previews, so **SPOILERS GALORE!** Also, _please_ don't confirm or deny anything; getting spoiled _now_ would be pretty devastating.

For the purposes of this story, I'm assuming the following about the movie:

\- Riley runs away from home for some reason, but reunites and makes up with Mom and Dad.  
\- Joy learns to accept and even embrace Sadness's presence in Headquarters. And they get back there, of course.  
\- Meg is the girl with the headband from the trailers and lives in Minnesota.  
\- I have _no_ idea about Bing Bong, so I'm going to ignore him completely. Same with most of the workings of Riley's mind.

This is probably gonna be a three-parter, and I want to finish this by Tuesday at the soonest and before the premiere at the latest. But that's everything now, so have fun.

* * *

Fear had been putting in double shifts.

He knew the others weren't happy about that. He knew _Riley_ wasn't happy about that. But he'd be _damned_ if he let her endanger herself again. So he put in extra effort so that she would be at least _twice_ as careful as before. He took over Dream Duty as often as he could and kept talking Joy into giving him more time at the console, which, surprisingly enough, wasn't all that hard now that she had realized how much she had suppressed Sadness in the past.

He would get up early, or stay up late, and help Riley come to terms with all that had happened a few weeks ago. If she bottled it up, it would linger and eventually resurface, causing pain and suffering and maybe even fights with her parents if she drew the wrong conclusions, which might lead to _more_ drama and… well, he just wasn't gonna risk it.

Sure, he was as exhausted and weary as Riley was by now, but it felt _good_ for things to be under control again. At least on an intellectual level, she had to appreciate that, right?

* * *

Riley wished she could go back to sleep again, but she just couldn't seem to calm down. She kept tossing and turning and squeezing her eyes shut in the hopes that it would help her drift off. All she wanted was to get another hour of rest. Why was that so hard?

Yet the light creeping in between the blinds made her bedroom bright enough by now that the stars on her ceiling didn't seem to be glowing anymore. Maybe she should just get up? Her mind was reeling anyway, so what was the point in trying to fight it?

Of course, she realized that after what had happened, this kind of thing had to be normal. Running away had probably been the single worst decision of her life. It had felt so right at the time, but after seeing what it had done to her parents… how could she have been so blind? How could she have forgotten how much they loved her?

The questions kept going in circles inside her head, and she shuddered at the thought of how much worse the situation could've turned out. What if something had happened to her before she'd made up with Mom and Dad?

"I'm sorry," she whispered weakly as she buried her face in her pillow.

* * *

With a frown, Fear adjusted the settings on the console. He didn't want her _panicking_ , he just wanted her to be careful. It was a bit difficult keeping up a moderate level of sensitivity for longer stretches of time, but hey, if it was for Riley, then he could do this, right?

"Fear," he heard a voice right behind him, and he jumped at least a few feet high.

"S-Sadness?!" he blurted out as he turned around, abandoning the console for now. "W-what are you doing up? I mean, good morning!" he hastily added when she started tearing up, probably at the notion of her company being unwelcome.

"Good morning," she gravely returned the sentiment, running a hand over her eyes in what looked like slow motion. "It _is_ morning. Maybe you should get a little sleep."

He stared at her for a moment - he'd completely lost track of the time. "Maybe later," he muttered, turning back around to the console. "When we got her to school safely." Great, now he was feeling guilty. He'd just been planning to let Riley think for a while and then find enough rest to safely get through the day.

"It's Saturday," Sadness pointed out, then slumped to lie down on the floor next to him. "Did Riley get some sleep?" she mumbled up from the ground.

"Not much," he admitted, fixing the screen. "But she had _so_ much to contemplate…"

"I don't think she likes what you're doing," Sadness pointed out quietly, in that brutal honesty she was so good at.

Fear frowned to himself as he kept pushing Riley's buttons. Yeah, he knew that, but Riley was a good kid. She might not be ecstatic or anything, but she had always seen the reason in his interventions. She knew he was just watching over her, right?

But before he had figured out how to put that into words without possibly offending Sadness, he jumped again when Joy's usual delighted morning-shriek ripped through the room from the upper level, and next thing he knew, he'd been tackled to the ground beside Sadness by a blurry ball of yellow and was getting the wind squeezed out of him.

"Fear! What a lovely morning, and how wonderful to see you!" Joy proclaimed as she pinched both his cheeks. "How're we doing?"

Faintly grumbling at, well, at her _everything_ , he got to his feet again and dusted off his bow tie. "We're doing fine, actually. The night was very productive, and I think…"

"Ah, Fear," she cut in brightly as she waved to Disgust and Anger who'd trailed behind her, "I want Riley to be safe, too, but if you make her _think_ all day and night, there'll be no room left for _fun times_!"

"And if there is, she'll be too tired to enjoy them," Disgust deadpanned.

"You didn't keep her up all night _again_ , did you?" Anger growled.

Fear gulped at the raw fire in the statement and hastily darted his eyes around the room to come up with a possible escape route, just in case.

"Don't fight!" Sadness started begging in a small whimper.

But of course, Joy was already intervening. "Give her a break, Fear!" she chirped, and almost knocked him over when she clapped him on the back. "It's okay, there's no need for you to keep driving. You look like you could use some sleep, and we're gonna see Alex today, anyway, so you can just rel-…"

" _Alex_!" Fear shrieked as he whirled back around to the console to use at least half its controls at once. "Oh my gosh, _I forgot_! What if she doesn't _like_ us?!"

He shouldn't have let himself lose track of the priorities. He absolutely shouldn't have. Dealing with the past was immensely important, but he couldn't let that distract Riley from what was going on in the here and now. If she didn't pay attention to what happened around her…

But almost immediately, Joy had caught both his wrists. "Alex is gonna _love_ us!" she declared. "She knows us _already_ , and, I mean, _she_ was the one who asked us to go ice skating today! Maybe she's even gonna be our new best friend! What is there to worry about?"

"She might change her mind!" Fear argued as he struggled against Joy's surprisingly strong grip, and before she had dragged him away from the console and waved the others over to take care of Riley for the moment, he did manage to get a last button push in.

* * *

Riley gave a groan and crawled out from under her blanket. She was too riled up. There was no point in trying to sleep anymore. She might as well just start getting ready for the day.

As she brushed her teeth, she felt herself calm down a bit, but she still kept asking herself why she was this nervous, or rather, what she was nervous _about_. She had the day off and was going to spend it with a new friend, doing something she liked. Shouldn't she be happy?

She cringed when the bathroom door opened with a high-pitched squeak, but it was just Dad. "Good morning, Riley! Did you sleep well?"

"Morning, Dad." She had to smile at him, even though it probably turned out a little wistful. For some reason, it hurt to see her parents so chipper every time they came near her these days. "Er, not really, but that happens."

She wasn't at all surprised when he caught her in an embrace from behind, and she gave in to his loving caress. He didn't even seem to mind when that got yucky toothpaste smeared on his pajama sleeve.

"Love you, too, Dad," she mumbled, a single tear escaping out of one eye.

* * *

"Joy, _please_!" Fear begged again as she pushed him into the dark Sleeping Quarters with a playful shove. "I can still sleep later, I need to take _care_ of her, what if something _happens_ , and…"

"We're going _ice skating_ today!" Joy argued brightly, but there was no way he could miss the aura of authority that had crept into her words. "And Riley's been doing that since she could _walk_. She's a natural. There's nothing to worry about." Then she smirked at him. "And you'd _know_ that if you weren't so overworked."

"Accidents happen _especially_ when you think you've got something and fail to pay attention because of it," he mumbled, but he did sit down on his bed. Part of him knew there was no arguing with Joy sometimes.

Her features softened - she must have caught _something_ in his tone that shook her out of her bossy mode, for she came over and sat beside him to take his hand with both of hers. "Don't worry about her so much."

"It's my job," he quipped half-heartedly, and felt his spirits lift a little when it elicited a chuckle from her.

"She'll be fine," Joy stressed. "She came out of this a lot stronger than before. You should have a little more faith in her."

"I just…" he began, but then found he couldn't speak around the sudden lump in his throat. "I just want her to be safe," he tried again, fixing some spot on the floor. "I just don't want anything to happen to her. Not again."

There was silence for a moment. And then he jumped when Joy wrapped him in a crushing bear hug.

"Riley will be fine!" she proclaimed as she got to her feet again to dramatically spread her arms. "This is gonna be the best day _ever_!" But she calmed down again to smile at him. "And we want her to be safe, too. All of us. Of course we're not as good at _keeping_ her safe as you are, but we'll do our best, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," he muttered. What else could he say? She wasn't gonna let him help right now. Maybe if he slept for an hour and then got back to the console… but, no, they'd just send him back to bed.

"How about this?" she suddenly offered. "We'll take care of her in the morning, and when we meet Alex, we're gonna come and wake you. Promise."

With a frown, he raised his gaze to scan her face - was she just saying that to make him follow the order? But it seemed sincere. Good thing she was glowing; it always let him decipher her expression, even against the brightness of Headquarters visible behind her through the open door.

"That would be great," he finally replied. There was a difference between caution and paranoia. "Thanks."

Her resulting smile was dazzling. "Awesome!" she exclaimed and skipped away. "Sleep well, then! We'll try to keep it down!"

He chuckled a little at her bubbliness. She meant well. They all did. And they all wanted the best for Riley.

He knew he needed to trust them a little more. He just didn't know how.

* * *

Riley had finally managed to calm down. And it was about time, too, for she knew it would have upset her parents if they'd noticed something wrong with her. But as it was, she'd managed to enjoy breakfast, and even helping Dad with the dishes registered as a rather fun activity today.

Dad smiled at her as he kept scrubbing away at one of the plates. "So… you said you were gonna see that girl today, right?"

"Alex," Riley confirmed. "She asked me if I wanted to go ice skating, so we're gonna meet at the lake in the park."

She had to repress the urge to roll her eyes when she saw him tense up immediately, though. She knew what was coming.

"Don't you think you should, um, go to an ice pavilion for that?" he asked, sheepishly scratching his head with one soapy hand. "I mean, it would be a controlled environment there, you never know if the ice on the lake is actually gonna hold, and…"

She had to laugh at his awkwardness. "Dad, if it's not gonna hold, they're not gonna let us on it! Just relax, I'll know if it's safe or not."

"W-well…" Dad kept fumbling, but then his gaze softened. "Yeah, of course you've got this. Sorry, sweetie."

"It's _fine_ , Dad," she chuckled, and then burst into a giggling fit when he splashed a handful of soapy water at her.

* * *

Fear had tried. He really, really had tried. And indeed, he had even managed to doze off a few times even through his anxiety. But mostly, he had just been lying awake agonizing about what could possibly go wrong while he wasn't there to ensure Riley's safety. He'd also been trying his best to catch snippets of the others' conversation so that he could determine whether the things that upset Disgust and Anger were actually dangerous, which tended to happen sometimes.

When, finally, Joy seemed to sound way more chipper than usual, he took that as a sign that they'd reached the park, and he debated with himself about whether or not he should get up. But Joy had said she'd wake him, so he should probably wait, right? But what if she'd forgotten?

The decision was made for him, though, when the door opened abruptly and forced him to shield his eyes against the bright light if he didn't want to go blind.

"Come join us, sleepyhead," he heard Anger's unmistakable growl.

Fear did his best not to be _too_ hasty about throwing off the blanket, but he couldn't wait to check on Riley again to calm his fluttering nerves. "T-thanks. Wouldn't wanna sleep through playtime."

He gulped when his eyes adjusted to the light level enough to tell him that Anger was looking him up and down. Not good. Had it sounded too eager?

"You _did_ sleep, didn't you?" Anger snarled and narrowed his eyes. "You still look like someone put you through the wringer."

Fear calmed down instantly. He'd learned to recognize that tone ages ago. It sounded hostile, scary even, but this wasn't aggravation, it was Anger's way of caring. "Yeah, I did. I promised." It wasn't even a lie. He'd slept as much as he could.

Anger harrumphed at him and turned to leave without another word, and Fear hurried to follow him down the ramp and back to the console, where he was greeted with the sight of the girls taking turns at the controls, and through Riley's eyes, he saw the winter wonderland that was the park near the school grounds. The snow covering the ground and the distant trees was sparkling in the sunlight, and for a moment, he thought he could almost emphasize with Joy's usual enthusiasm a bit… but there were more important things to consider. Riley was running, and it was cold. And that was a dangerous combination.

"Are we wearing a coat?" he asked when he and Anger joined the others at the console. "And gloves? And a scarf?" He blinked against Headquarters' brightness a bit; whatever his current state was called, "well-rested" wasn't it.

"There you are!" Joy exclaimed brightly as she turned around to him. "Yeah, don't worry, we wrapped up warm. If we die today, it's from heat stroke."

"That's not _funny_ ," he grumbled and pushed a button to make Riley slow down a bit. Was this pathway leading to the lake? But then he jumped when Alex came into view to their left - apparently, they'd already met her and were running somewhere together. Definitely the lake, then. He could see her long, black mane fluttering behind her as she gained a lead on them. She had a pair of skates tied together by the laces and dangling over one shoulder, so he assumed that Riley had taken her own with her, too.

"C'mon, Riley, what are you waiting for?" Alex called back over her shoulder.

Joy operated the console in response to that, and sure enough, Riley started laughing almost immediately. "Nothing!" she replied and sped up again.

"We're gonna catch a cold if we run in these temperatures!" Fear pointed out.

Disgust rolled her eyes at him from the other end of the console. "Here we go again," she groaned. "Fear, it's not _that_ cold."

"And if we don't run, we're gonna lose Alex," Sadness quietly reminded him.

"Which is why we're gonna keep running!" Joy decided, and with a few quick taps, she made Riley speed up enough that she gained a lead on Alex, and there was nothing Fear could do about it.

* * *

Riley had to laugh at the silliness of their little race. From what she could tell, Alex seemed like an okay person. Of course she wasn't _Meg_ , but Riley knew she shouldn't expect her to be. She really couldn't go moping about Minnesota any longer.

Right. This was a new life. She could do this.

"Coming through!" Alex shouted in her ear as she passed by again.

With a chuckle, Riley did her best to catch up. And then shrieked as her foot got caught between two tiles. She wildly flailed her arms to regain her balance before she could hit the ground. For a moment, it felt as if she was floating, but then gravity took pity on her and stopped fooling around.

"You okay?" Alex called over from a distance.

Riley took a deep breath and looked back over her shoulder to try and find the loose tile. "Y-yeah, I just stumbled." Another deep breath. "Whew, that scared me!"

She looked up just in time to see Alex roll her eyes. "Yeah, well, it's no big deal," her new friend decided. "C'mon, I can see the lake!"

* * *

"Yes, it's a big deal!" Fear insisted waspishly. This Alex person had no idea what she was talking about!

"It's not," Anger snapped. "It might've been if we'd actually fallen, but we haven't!"

"Don't fight," Sadness whispered again, looking to Joy for support, and Fear knew he would have marveled at the sight if he hadn't been busy quietly pouting at Alex.

"Look, we can see the lake, too!" Joy announced in a _really_ transparent distraction attempt. "And, oh, cool, there's even a little forest beside it!"

Unfortunately, seeing the lake meant they could also see the large patches of water in between the ice sheets, and the group of people at the shore looking decidedly disgruntled.

"Oh, no…" Sadness mumbled and reached out for the console, but Fear was faster.

"It's too warm," Riley spelled out what they could all see. "We can't go on the ice today."

* * *

Immediately, Riley knew she'd said the wrong thing, because Alex turned around to frown at her with her eyes narrowed.

But Alex wouldn't expect her to do something unreasonable, right? This was _dangerous_!

"We'll see about that," her new friend claimed after a moment, then dashed off to the edge of the forest.

"Alex, wait!" Riley called after her, but her words fell on deaf ears, so with a sigh, she also broke into a run again. "Wait!"

But Alex didn't stop until they had reached the trees, and it was there that she turned around to smile a decidedly mischievous smile that Riley had never seen there during classes. "I know a secret passageway! We just have to sneak under these trees and then we…"

"But, Alex, we're not _supposed_ to go there!" Riley could feel herself tense up, and a moment later, she remembered her father's words. "Why don't we just go to an ice pavilion, we could…"

"Indoors!" Alex huffed, her nostrils flaring. "That's no fun! Why are you such a chicken?"

Riley blinked her eyes for a few moments. That hurt. That _really_ hurt. "I'm not a chicken!" she mumbled weakly, her uneasiness increasing tenfold. Alex was gonna force her into this, wasn't she?

And sure enough, now Alex was smiling again, but not in a nice way. It looked as if she thought she had won. "Well, great, then! C'mon!" And she ducked under a nearby fir tree.

Riley found herself rooted to the spot. She couldn't go there. But if she didn't play along with what Alex was suggesting…

What was she supposed to do?

* * *

"We are _not_ going in there!" Fear insisted, crossing his arms.

"Alex is gonna _leave_ , you idiot!" Anger bellowed, pushing him out of the way to reach the console.

"Anger, don't!" Joy cut in and flew over to catch his wrist. "If we overreact now, she's not gonna like it, either!"

"She's gonna _hate_ us…" Sadness whined.

"Of course not!" Joy claimed, then pushed a few buttons on the console, and a moment later, Riley had started to cross the small distance to the trees.

"This is _dangerous_!" Fear snapped, pulling one of the two main levers and making Riley halt again. "And we're gonna get in _trouble_!"

"We're _losing_ Alex!" Joy burst out, and even as she operated the console, she threw him a sideways look that was decidedly less positive than usual.

Fear squirmed under her gaze. Was he really just overworked? Was he overreacting? But he wasn't being unreasonable, was he? They _shouldn't_ be doing this! There was _so_ much wrong with this that he couldn't even _begin_ to describe it!

* * *

Riley couldn't keep the doubts from clouding her senses, even as she hurried through the underbrush to catch up with her friend. She knew she shouldn't be doing this. Hadn't she vowed to take better care of herself? What would her parents say if she got into trouble _again_?

She pushed at another branch, but it bounced back and hit her across the face. Tears instantly sprung up in her eyes, but the worry was worse, almost overpowering by now. Would this leave a mark? Would her parents realize what she had been doing? And what would Alex say if she caught her crying?

Then she was out, and found herself in a more or less secluded area where the lake had formed a little cove among the shades of large fir trees. With the lower temperature, the ice sheet was indeed still whole here, and Alex was sitting by the water, shoes off, currently trying to untie the laces on her skates. When she heard Riley rustling through the trees, she turned her head to smile brightly over her shoulder. "There you are," she quipped. "I thought you'd gotten stuck."

"Alex…" Riley began, but she had no idea what to say. She couldn't go skating here. _They_ couldn't go skating here. The ice would break! "Alex, we shouldn't be doing this."

Alex seemed a little bored as she turned back to fiddle with her skates again. "I've done it before. It's fine."

Riley gulped. "Alex, I really, _really_ think we should go to an ice pavilion, we…"

"Oh, _come_ on!" Alex burst out, abandoning the skates to get up and stalk over to her with just socks on her feet. "You can't be serious! There'll be so many people that we won't have _any_ room to ourselves! It won't be _any_ fun!"

Riley bit her lip. She didn't want to fight with Alex. But she absolutely couldn't skate on the lake. She _knew_ something was gonna happen. "Isn't that still better than falling into the water?" she whispered.

Alex furrowed her brows and looked at her, just _looked_ at her for a moment. "You know what?" she finally said. "I don't really feel like ice skating today, anyway. Why don't we just call this off?" And she turned around to collect her shoes and skates.

Riley felt numb. The worry was gone, but so was the excitement, as well as that warm, fuzzy feeling of being liked by someone new. "Alex…" she tried again.

But Alex frowned at her as she passed her. "I can't believe I tried to be friends with such a scaredy-cat!" she bit out. And then she was gone.

* * *

There was dead silence in headquarters.

No one was operating the console. There was no way to respond to _that_.

Fear was staring at the screen. But he knew the others were all staring at _him_. And he had a sinking feeling that this had been _his_ fault.

Breathing around the sudden lump in his throat was hard, but he forced himself to touch another button. Now that caution around their new friend - former friend? - had just ceased to matter, he at least wanted Riley back in some place where she was allowed to be.

"Alex is gonna come around," Joy whispered almost inaudibly. "Just… just give her a little time, everyone."

Fear bit his lip. He had ruined this. He'd tried to look out for Riley, and instead, he'd ruined everything.

But he had no time to wallow in self-pity right now. When they came back to that branch that had hurt them before, he made sure that Riley would be acutely aware of the way it moved this time...

And then he yelled as a sudden pain shot up his arm. Had there actually been a spark where he'd touched the console?

"What is it?" Disgust sneered. "Are the trees gonna eat us?"

"N-no…" Fear muttered, too spooked to even take offense at her tone as he kept staring at the console. "I… something stung me…"

"Oh, what, so now the _console's_ dangerous, too?" Anger bellowed.

Fear gulped as he realized that the others probably weren't gonna tolerate his antics for much longer. "N-no, of course not..." The console wasn't dangerous. It never had been. Right? He needed to keep it together now.

Sadness moved to stand beside him at the console and gently touched one of the controls. Was she testing if it was gonna hurt her or did she think Riley should be miserable now?

Whatever her intent was, he saw the screen blurring with unshed tears, and the knowledge that _he_ was the one who had caused them was burning in his chest, threatening to suffocate him.

* * *

Well, at least Riley was back on the pathway now.

Not that that managed to cheer her up or anything. She was pretty sure she had just lost Alex for good, and that realization brought about a wave of loneliness so powerful that she briefly considered going back to the little cove, just so that she could cry in peace without having to worry about being caught doing it by any of the passers-by.

But, no, of course she couldn't. It would be pretty dumb to go back there now that she'd lost Alex for not _wanting_ to go there.

Had it been the right thing to do? She didn't have enough friends here to be able to afford losing Alex. But what would Mom and Dad have said if the ice had crumbled underneath her?

Blinking to fend off another wave of tears, she went back around to where she and Alex had spotted the group of people, but the crowd had dispersed by now.

For a moment, she halted, just staring out at the lake. But she could see that spot from here, and that hurt way more than she wanted to admit to herself, so she turned and continued along the path, doing her best not to run into anyone. Maybe something interesting would pop up on the way, but somehow, she doubted it. She couldn't go home yet, though. Mom and Dad would ask questions, and then they would worry about her again.

She _hated_ worrying. Maybe she should've gone along with what Alex had been planning. That way, she wouldn't have had to be alone anymore. And Alex would probably have been impressed with her, right? Now that she looked back on what had happened, she'd bet anything that the ice would have held… but it was too late for that now.

Why was she always so afraid of things? It had only gotten worse in the last few weeks…

Not for the first time, she wished Meg was here. Meg wouldn't have laughed at her for crying, or for being afraid in the first place…

But hadn't Meg also teased her about it sometimes?

Riley bit her lip. No matter what way she looked at it, the realization sunk in that she worried too much, about too many things.

She faintly registered that there was laughter in the air, and when she looked up, she spotted a playground further along on her path. Little children, way younger than she was, were playing on a slide and a set of swings, and they were running around and falling down and laughing about it afterward. Why weren't they afraid?

And why was she?

* * *

"Can't you leave her alone already?" Disgust snapped at him.

But Fear shook his head. "She's devastated. If she's not cautious now, she's gonna do something stupid again."

"She did something stupid _already_!" Anger growled from behind him. "She made Alex _hate_ us!"

"I don't _care_ if Alex hates us if she's gonna get us _killed_!" Fear snapped, but it was getting harder and harder to defend his actions, especially now that he had realized something.

Riley wasn't reacting the way she should. He kept pushing her buttons, doing everything in his power to make her see reason, but she just did what she wanted. Hopped off the huge ledge around the playground, jumped into puddles full of muddy snow and germs, and at one point she actually patted a ferocious looking puppy.

"What's she _doing_?" he wailed, getting ever more agitated.

"What are you _making_ her do?" Joy retorted from behind him, sounding somewhat puzzled. "It's not like you to send her into all these situations! I mean, the puppy was cute, but…"

"I'm _trying_ to keep her _out_ of them!" he complained, his rapid hand movements blurring even in front of his own eyes. "She's not _listening_!"

"Shall I…?" Joy offered, but he waved over his shoulder impatiently to keep her away.

"She needs to see that she's making a mistake!" he argued, then yelped as he took another look outside. In a split second, he had grabbed both of the main levers and pulled them all the way down.

* * *

Riley was hesitating again, and she hated herself for it.

The little stream she'd found behind the playground was gurgling in front of her, and she knew that meant the lake probably _wouldn't_ have been safe. Not that that mattered now.

The stream seemed too wide to jump over. She wasn't sure she could make it. She couldn't always make the jumps in PE, either. But she _wanted_ to. She wanted to be brave. But she could get wet.

Then again, so what? She had gotten wet before. She'd live.

Her gaze hardened. No. She'd made up her mind. She wouldn't be afraid anymore.

* * *

Riley had broken into a run.

Fear could hear the others gasp behind him. He clung to the levers as if holding on for dear life.

What was happening? Why wouldn't she listen?

He could feel tears collecting in his eyes. This had always worked. Why did she defy him now? Why would she disregard all his concerns for her safety?

He slammed the levers down again, and again, and again. He could feel her briefly slowing each time, but she didn't stop.

"Fear…" he heard someone behind him. It sounded like Sadness.

"Why won't you _listen_?" he screamed at the screen, slamming the levers down again so hard that the plastic of the console cracked slightly

There was an alarm, and then a spark. Brilliant white light. And then… pain.

The last thing he noticed before he passed out was Riley jumping.

* * *

Riley landed safely on the other side.

She threw a look back over her shoulder in satisfaction. There, that hadn't been so hard, right?

She wouldn't be afraid anymore. She would never be afraid again.

* * *

 **Note:** Feedback is welcome, especially because I left you hanging on such a cliffhanger (sorry). But don't spoil anything in the comments, please! I'm actually aware of (but ignoring) a little something revealed in the Mother's Day video, but that's a _huge_ spoiler that not everyone knows about (and I don't know how it works, anyway). Please respect that. Thank you!


	2. Novaturient

**Note: DO NOT READ ANYTHING MORE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS!** Including the end of this author's note. I mean it. This is now spoiler territory.

…everyone gone? All right, here we go.

This is 100% canon-compliant. I don't have to change _anything_ , including chapters two and three. Riley does run away, Joy does learn to appreciate Sadness's presence, Meg is indeed Riley's best friend from Minnesota, ignoring Bing Bong for the time being was the right choice because it's not like he can contribute to the plot, I didn't explicitly mention the color of the memories yet, and I can ignore the extended panel because that happens after this story. …phew. From here on out, expect spoilers that I'm actually sure _are_ spoilers (read: Bing Bong references and multi-colored memories, because everything else stays exactly as I planned it).

* * *

"Fear!" Joy shouted, heard the others shout alongside her.

Sadness was about to rush over to the console, but Joy held her back firmly, refusing to get someone else into danger. For once, she thought she could understand Fear's feelings; the dread paralyzed her as she saw him enveloped in a chilling, blindingly white current that originated from the console.

"She's killing him!" Disgust exclaimed, clutching both hands to her mouth.

Then it was over, and they watched in horror as Fear crumpled to the floor, eyes closed, body going completely slack. The light from the console faded and then winked out, but he made no move to get back up.

"Fear!" Joy bellowed yet again, sprinting over now to kneel at his side. "Get a hold of yourself!" She shook his shoulder, hoping against all hope for him to tell them that everything was okay.

But he wasn't responding. His head was lolling from side to side at her treatment, and Joy felt her chest constrict with an unpleasant feeling. For a moment, she had trouble naming it because it was so unfamiliar, but then it came to her. Worry.

"She's shutting us out again!" Anger growled as he also leaned over their friend.

With a start, Joy realized that it was true. They had more pressing matters to deal with. "Make sure he's all right!" she commanded to no one in particular as she got to her feet.

"Is she gonna do that now every time we annoy her?" Disgust complained, lower lip pulled into a pout.

"Is this what it was like when you lost control of her last time?" Joy demanded as she approached the console, careful not to touch the two main levers, but the controls hadn't darkened, and when she tapped a few buttons, Riley reacted normally, with a small giggle and a slight spring in her step.

Considering the circumstances, Disgust seemed surprisingly bored as she contemplated her fingernails. "No, but she was targeting Fear specifically this time. Looks like she doesn't want him."

"What do you mean, she doesn't _want_ him?" Sadness burst out, her voice quivering. "Why wouldn't she want him? He's always kept her safe!"

Joy sent a look back over her shoulder, because in that moment, she was strikingly reminded of what Sadness's role among them was. Compassion. She was kneeling on the floor, cradling Fear to herself like a mother, and her heart visibly ached for both him and Riley due to their conflict. How could Joy have missed the importance of that, all this time?

"Yeah, and then he made her lose a friend!" Anger growled, shooting their unconscious companion a glare.

"Calm down, everyone, that wasn't his fault!" Joy commanded, touching a few controls to cheer Riley up again. She probably wouldn't face this problem if she was down, right? "He was acting in her best interests."

"He went overboard!" Anger argued, crossing his arms. "After everything that happened, he refused to let her take any more risks! Of course she'd snap at some point!"

"Now, that's just _mean_ ," Disgust sneered. "I didn't see you complaining _before_ Alex ran off."

Anger's glare turned alarmingly ferocious. "You got something to say to me?"

"Everyone, _shut up_!" Joy barked, even as she kept operating the console. "This isn't the time! Get Fear to the sofa, get him comfortable. I'm sure he'll wake up soon. Riley loves us, she wouldn't just abandon him!"

* * *

Riley was happy.

It felt incredible to finally have overcome her inhibitions. She'd held herself back all this time, afraid that something bad might happen, but instead, she'd lost a friend _because_ she'd been afraid.

But now that that was over, there was a smile on her face. If worrying and not worrying both messed things up, then what was the point in doing it? She would be a new person now, a brave person, one who didn't shy away from fun just on the off chance that something could go wrong.

As she looked back at the stream, she felt her face split into a huge grin, and she rubbed her hands in anticipation.

She wondered what else she could do now.

* * *

Joy kept pushing buttons and flipping switches, but her mind was elsewhere.

Her optimism had backfired on her - again. After she and Sadness had gotten back and reached an understanding, she'd assumed that the worst was behind them all. But for some reason, the current situation struck her as potentially more dangerous; if it was possible for one of their number to be in Headquarters and _still_ be unable to support Riley, that held way more potential for disaster than she wanted to imagine.

Fear especially. If the rest of them were out of it, that had consequences from which Riley could recover. Maybe not right away, but it was all fixable in some sense. Not happy for a while? She'd bounce back. Not angry? She'd be more timid. Not sad? Bad, but manageable, seeing as Joy had more or less oppressed Sadness all throughout Riley's life, anyway. Disgust was a borderline case - digesting poison was potentially fatal, but not immediately most of the time.

But if Riley's _caution_ was gone, chances were she might get herself killed in some sudden accident. True, Fear had been kind of obnoxious these past weeks, but that didn't take away from the fact that in _general_ , his job was immensely important. What if they hit their head now, or broke their neck, or accidentally walked in front of a car and…

Well, Joy supposed it was a good thing she was worrying about that as long as Fear wasn't in a state to do it himself.

Riley was currently skipping along a winded, not too crowded pathway, so Joy allowed herself a moment away from the console, and with a sigh which she hoped the others hadn't noticed, she turned and walked over to the sofa to join them in their huddle. "How is he?"

"Completely out of it," Disgust observed flatly from where she was standing, looking down at him with a frown. "She got him good."

"Looks like he's at least still alive, though," Anger added from the far end of the sofa.

Joy furrowed her brows as she regarded Fear to assess his state for herself. He was sprawled out on the sofa, where Sadness was sitting to still gently cradle his head in her arms. With the way he was so utterly and completely still, he appeared more peaceful than Joy had _ever_ seen him. In his waking moments, he mostly was a mess, and even his sleep was fitful the majority of the time. But now… nothing. It was unnerving.

"I'm sure he's gonna wake up soon!" she claimed again, with no basis whatsoever for the statement. But if _she_ wasn't positive, then who would be?

She forced herself to tear her gaze off his lifeless frame. The sight was depressing her, and she couldn't have that.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, and immediately felt their eyes snapping up to her.

A moment passed, and then Disgust gave a snort. "Joy, apologizing? If Fear was awake now, he'd be screaming in shock."

Joy flinched. She wasn't sure what hit her harder - that Disgust would think that about her, or that it was _true_. "Yeah, well, he's _not_ , and that's just the problem. And I..." She gulped. "I feel responsible for this. After, well… after what happened, I thought I should make an effort to be less… you know, bossy. But instead, I allowed for us to get out of balance, and for one of us to get out of touch with Riley. I didn't pay attention. I'm sorry."

She made it a point not to word that in a way that would incriminate Fear. She wasn't quite sure whether she agreed with his actions or not, but they couldn't afford any developing resentments among each other. She knew how difficult it was to recover from animosities like those, she reminded herself with another sideways glance at Sadness.

And judging from the way Sadness had already been looking her way, she was probably aware of the implications.

There was silence from the others, but Joy forced herself to wait it out. They were a good bunch, right? They'd understand. They would most decidedly, absolutely certainly… drat, she was nervous.

"Yeah, well, it's not like _we_ paid attention," Anger finally growled.

Joy gave a sigh. "True. But I'm supposed to be leading you."

When she looked up, she caught Anger raising a brow at her. "Doesn't mean we shouldn't be thinking for ourselves," he grumbled.

Joy felt her spirits lift at his words. She probably wouldn't have been reassured if that statement had come from any of the others, but Anger was all about fairness, and if _he_ thought she shouldn't be blaming herself… well, then maybe she shouldn't.

"Besides, you're not responsible for Fear's paranoia," Disgust drawled.

"Fear was _right_ , Disgust," Joy argued. For a moment, she puzzled about why she suddenly felt so strongly about that. But then it came to her. "Riley made a huge mistake when she ran away, and after a blunder like that, there has to be room for self-doubt." She should know, really. "Yeah, he probably put in too much enthusiasm, but…"

"As he always does," Disgust deadpanned.

"Oh, _come_ on!" Anger snapped at her. "We all know he's biased! And of _course_ he is - wouldn't _you_ jump at the chance to get more of a say about how to guide Riley? I know _I_ would!"

"Don't fight," Sadness whimpered, as she tended to do, even while she was staring at Fear's face as if willing him to wake up from the look alone.

But Disgust was already lowering her gaze. There was no point in denying what Anger had said.

Joy opened her mouth to resolve this, _somehow_ … but then she flinched again when an alarm sounded.

With a start, she realized that she had forgotten to check on Riley.

* * *

Groaning slightly, Riley pushed her hands against the uneven tiles to get up from the ground, but a sharp pain in her right palm had her change her mind.

She pushed herself into a sitting position instead, so that she could numbly raise her hand in front of her face to have a look at the damage. There was a deep scrape just below her thumb, and even a few tiny droplets of blood trickling out. It hurt like crazy.

But she wasn't afraid. Right now, she didn't feel anything much. And that seemed really strange to her, because normally, shouldn't she be terrified that this wound was something totally life-threatening?

"Kid, are you all right?" a voice asked from above her, and when she raised her gaze, she found herself looking at an elderly man who had stopped to lean over her, his brows furrowed in concern.

"I'm fine!" Riley assured him immediately. With her uninjured hand, she reached out to collected the skates that had slipped off her shoulder, and then got to her feet.

And she _was_ fine. Slowly, ever so slowly, a smile spread across her face. She was handling this _way_ better than she would have in the past.

* * *

"Fear would have prevented this," Disgust pointed out in annoyance, crossed her arms, and stared up at the screen in undisguised frustration.

Joy didn't dare comment on the change of mind as she made Riley thank the man for his kindness and then continue on her way. "Fear's gonna wake up soon," she simply told the room at large for the umpteenth time. "We just have to hold out until then."

"Can't _we_ keep her safe in the meantime?" Anger suggested from her other side.

Disgust snorted. "We _can't_ imitate each other. You saw what a terrific job we did _last_ time."

"Well, we'll have to try!" Joy decided. Because Anger was right. Riley had to be safe no matter what, whether Fear could make sure of it or not. So even if the chances of that working _were_ as bad as Disgust said, at least they had to put in the effort, right? This couldn't get any worse than it already was, could it?

* * *

Riley kept tripping her way through the park. Her foot would get caught between two tiles, or the ground would be slippery from the muddy snow, and at one point, she actually fell down again and scraped her knees.

But with each misstep, she became more and more giddy. This wasn't so bad! Yeah, her hand and knees hurt now, but this was nothing to fret over, as she knew she would've done in the past. What had she been so afraid of?

She felt almost dizzy with glee as she got to her feet a second time and continued on her way.

* * *

"She's completely delirious!" Disgust complained.

"It's the best I can do!" Joy fired back. "I have no idea how Fear does this!"

She had a hard time staying positive about the situation. Disgust was right - this wasn't anything like what Fear usually did. So with a sigh, Joy just switched back to default happiness. Happy was still better than disarranged.

"Do you _honestly_ think she should be giggling right now?" Anger challenged with a frown.

No, Joy agreed without voicing that thought. She just didn't know what else to do. But she couldn't tell Anger _that_ , either. "If she wants to face this problem, she'll have to be in a good mood," was what she settled for.

"We never know what she's thinking," Anger pointed out hotly. "Right now, you might just be making her happy about getting rid of Fear!"

Joy froze.

"Yeah, I thought so," Anger huffed.

Joy stared up at the screen in horror. How had she not realized…?! "Sadness!" she blurted out, jerking away from the controls as if they'd zapped her, too. "Sadness, get over here!"

Anger and Disgust both stared at her, a clear testament to how odd it still had to look for her to call out for Sadness.

"But…" Sadness mumbled from the sofa. "But, Fear…"

"He'll have to do without you for the moment!" Joy insisted hurriedly. "Make Riley sad! What she's doing is _not_ something she should be happy about!"

"Give me a moment," Sadness mumbled. There was a bit of shuffling, and then she was standing next to Joy at the console. Sending a look back over her shoulder, Joy saw that Sadness had collected the pillows from both sofas and had laid Fear's head on the soft support in an attempt to make him as comfortable as she could possibly manage.

Sadness seemed unaware of the scrutiny, though. "Are you sure about this?" she breathed, sending an uncertain look up at her.

"Make her sad!" Joy repeated, briefly biting her lip. "She has to see reason!"

Sadness looked at her for a moment longer, but then she nodded and reached for the controls.

* * *

Why hadn't Riley realized this sooner?

She gave a sigh. Had she managed to overcome her fears before today, then maybe Alex would still be with her right now, and they'd be ice skating at the cove together. But instead, Alex was gone, and Riley's newfound bravery was no use to anyone, least of all herself.

So what if she wasn't afraid of the pain? It _still_ hurt, whether she was afraid of it or not!

She felt her eyes blurring with tears as she turned to look back at the cove that she could almost see from here.

* * *

"Not working," Disgust quipped. "She's looking back. She's thinking of Alex, not of Fear." She thought for a moment and then pulled one of the smaller levers.

* * *

Riley's eyes narrowed. But Alex had been pretty mean to try and force her into this. It was not as if she was any more mature than Riley was, or as if she had any say in what Riley did or didn't do!

* * *

"If she's thinking about Alex…" Anger growled. Joy yelped as he pushed her out of the way, and before she had recovered enough to stop him, he had punched a handful of buttons.

* * *

Actually, Riley continued that thought, and she could feel her eyes blazing as she did - actually, who did Alex think she was, trying to push her into something unreasonable? And who did she think she was to call her a scaredy-cat just because she had shied away from _one_ thing?

She fully turned around to face the cove for a moment. And then she started going back the way she had come. She'd show Alex!

* * *

"What did you _do_?" Joy muttered weakly. "What's she doing?"

"I'm… not sure," Anger visibly forced himself to admit, his hands still on the console. "But it's better than being happy about not listening to Fear, huh?"

They watched in silence as Riley jogged back in the opposite direction, got ever faster and faster, until she was running, running over the uneven, slippery ground, with zero concern as to her own safety.

"We need Fear," Sadness whispered.

Joy gulped. "He's gonna wake up soon. It's… not like he's never fainted before, right?" What a weak excuse. They all knew this was completely different. "He's gonna wake up soon. You just gotta believe it."

Now Anger did take his hands off the console to narrow his eyes at her. "Joy. He _isn't_ \- _waking_ \- _up_."

Silence followed his words.

Releasing a shuddering breath, Joy turned and hurried to the sofa where Fear was still lying, immobile and ghost-like.

She fell to her knees beside him to take a hold of his shoulders. "Fear!" she pleaded, slightly shaking him. "Fear, wake up!"

But Fear didn't react. Did she imagine that or had he gotten paler in the meantime? What did that mean? Would he disappear like...

Joy squeezed her eyes shut. No. She couldn't think about _him_.

But she couldn't suppress the shudder that suddenly wrecked her body. How much time did Fear actually _have_ to recover?

"Fear!" she repeated, shaking him so hard that the sofa was vibrating. She could feel her eyes burning, but she refused to burst into tears. Someone needed to stay positive. "Fear! Riley needs you! _Riley needs you_!"

Nothing.

Joy had no idea what to do. Riley was being reckless, and Fear couldn't do anything about it. And neither could the rest of them.

How were they supposed to fix this?

* * *

The way back to that spot hadn't taken Riley nearly as long, even though her sudden fury had died down a bit. She pushed the fir trees' branches out of her way without putting much thought into it, and barely kept herself from cursing when that unruly one slapped her across the face again.

And then she was back at the little cove.

While she had been wandering through the park, it had gotten late, and that showed in the drop in temperature. She shivered a little in reflex, but it wasn't all that bad - she was a hockey player. She was used to the cold.

The ice sheet on the lake was still whole, as if inviting her to set foot onto it. She looked down at the skates dangling from her hand… but no.

Alex couldn't tell her what to do! And she couldn't call her a scaredy-cat for not going on the ice! That just wasn't _fair_!

Riley would make her own rules, and she would choose her own fun to have!

* * *

"What's she doing?" Disgust breathed.

Joy could've told her that, but she didn't dare believe her eyes.

Riley had dropped the skates and approached one of the larger fir trees. She circled it for a moment, briefly looked it up and down, felt the solidity of the trunk with both hands, then let go and slightly bent her knees…

They all gasped when she jumped up and took a hold of the lowest-hanging branch.

"Is she _crazy_?!" Anger burst out incredulously.

"No," Sadness muttered. "She's reckless."

Fearless, Joy mentally corrected with another backwards glance at the sofa, at their still unresponsive companion.

Disgust's eyes grew wider and wider. "She can't be _serious_!"

Joy bit her lip and sent a look at the almost forgotten console. No one was touching the controls. No one had _any_ idea what to do.

* * *

Pulling herself up to sit on the branch was easy enough, even as her right hand was still throbbing slightly - Riley had always been athletic. Standing up on it was a bit harder, though, because it was difficult to find a proper balance. But her concentration was so focused that she felt herself slip into detachment, the way she sometimes did when she repeated familiar movements during hockey training. And eventually, the swaying stopped.

This was easy. She just had to look for the next branch that could safely hold her. There, how about that one?

She could do this. And she'd bet anything that Alex wouldn't have had the guts to do it!

* * *

Joy didn't dare touch the console again.

Bad enough that Riley was _doing_ this. If she started _enjoying_ it on top of everything else, she'd become even more careless than she already was.

"Sadness, can't you stop this somehow?" she muttered, and she was a bit amazed about how much she had come to rely on her in so little time.

"But…" Sadness muttered weakly. "But if she cries, she won't be able to see where she's stepping."

"True," Disgust observed and shot her a look. "You'd better stay away from the controls for now."

As they all did, really. They were just standing there, watching in silence as Riley climbed higher and higher in the tree - so high, in fact, that it was difficult to make out the ground through all the branches.

Joy felt sweat forming on her temple. They were running out of time. The higher Riley climbed, the greater the chances became that something serious would happen to them. Falling down became more and more dangerous with each second. And as horrified as her Emotions all were at the prospect, Riley herself didn't seem to regret this in the sligh-…

Regret. "That's right, we need to make her regret this!" Joy exclaimed. And then faltered when she realized that this was a little more "high-concept" than they usually got.

"Isn't 'regret' a form of 'being angry at yourself?'" Disgust suggested, but she didn't seem too convinced.

And neither did Anger. "Sort of, but that won't work. She's directing her aggravation at Alex, not at herself. There's nothing I can do."

"Regret is more Fear's thing," Sadness mumbled. "You know, being afraid of the consequences of a mistake? I think you two would have to work together to create regret."

Joy gave a sigh. That didn't help at all - but she knew, no matter how long it had taken her to realize it, that among all of them, Sadness was the only one with the sensitivity to correctly interpret complex feelings. Meaning, what Sadness said was probably true.

"Can we emulate regret any better than we can caution?" Joy asked, but she didn't really believe in it herself.

"She doesn't need to regret it," Sadness piped up again. "She just needs to not do it."

Joy had to repeat that in her head, but yes, that _was_ a difference. "Right. Who of us is capable of keeping her away from stuff?"

Silence fell around them as they all tried to come up with an answer to that - and then three sets of eyes zeroed in on Disgust almost simultaneously.

"Gotcha," she muttered as she stepped closer to the console.

* * *

Riley stood on her tiptoes to try and get hold of another branch. This one seemed a little less sturdy. They were getting smaller and smaller the higher she got.

Then her fingers closed around it, but immediately, she shied away, a shiver running through her as a small number of bugs started crawling across the back of her hand. For a moment, she swayed from the sudden movement.

Yeah, she was doing such a terrific job at this, wasn't she? A few tiny, little bugs were gonna keep her from being her new, brave self, weren't they?

Shaking her head at herself, she reached out to grab the branch again, and while the bugs still made her shiver, she kept going despite the unpleasant feeling.

Hanging on with the other hand, too, she started pulling herself up.

* * *

"It's not working!" Anger boomed. "She's not listening!"

"I'm doing the best I can!" Disgust snapped back. "If you think you can do better, be my guest!"

Joy felt her breathing growing more and more rapid. They needed to fix this somehow! They could do it! They just had to find the right method to be able t-…

Her features slipped in mid-thought.

No. It wasn't working. They were powerless.

"Joy," Sadness whispered, startling her by timidly taking her hand. "What do we do?"

Joy couldn't force herself to look at her, at any of the others, even as she slightly squeezed back with clammy fingers. Her gaze was glued to the screen.

She had no idea.

* * *

The branch was creaking.

Riley furrowed her brows in concentration. She couldn't move too fast on this one. She wasn't sure if it would be able to hold her.

Ha! She wasn't gonna give up, was she? Not now that she had come so far!

So she tightened her grip and forced herself to keep going.

Even as part of her realized that this was dangerous.

* * *

At the back of Riley's awareness, Fear stirred.

* * *

 **Note:** I don't think I'll have the last chapter up by tomorrow (sorry!), but since this is spoiler territory now, anyway, I'm fine with that. Tentatively aiming for Sunday, but no promises.

Would love to hear your thoughts, though. :)


	3. Metanoia

**Note:** Holy heavens, the fandom is exploding! oO I got 1.13k story views yesterday. _In one day_! The Monsters stuff barely got me 1k views in a good _month_! With thrice as many stories! And since Inside Out came out three days ago, there were a whooping 152 notification mails!

Thanks so much for all the feedback, kudos, favorites, and follows! I am BLOWN AWAY! You guys rock! I'm still trying to reply to all reviews individually, but please don't be confused or disappointed if it takes a while. (For obvious reasons.)

But enough of that. For now, just enjoy the, er, second to last chapter of Taking Care. (Yeah, it got a little longer than I had anticipated, so I decided to split this into two parts. But that just means more for you to read, right?)

* * *

His mind was too foggy to process the agitated voices at the edge of his consciousness.

He wanted to open his eyes, but they weren't quite cooperating. What was going on? He distinctly remembered waking up and guiding Riley at the lake to make sure that… Alex. He remembered Alex, too.

But why was he lying down? This felt like one of the sofas in Headquarters. Had he been… sleeping? _Sleeping on the job_? Oh, please, no! They were gonna _fire_ him!

He hurried to get up from the sofa… and then sank back with a groan. Everything hurt.

"Fear?" someone muttered from a distance.

Now he remembered the light, too. And the pain. The suffocating, overwhelming pain. Riley… Riley had…

"Fear! Oh my gosh, guys, he's coming to! He's waking up!"

There was the pitter-patter of bare feet against the smooth floor of Headquarters, and then a small earthquake caused a splitting headache to erupt in his skull… wait, no, it was just his shoulders being roughly shaken.

"Fear! Fear, say something!"

His eyes fluttered open on the second try, but he immediately closed them again to shut out the searing brightness in front of him. "Would you please not shine a Core Memory right in my face?" he muttered weakly.

"Wha-…" he heard Joy's voice above him, but at least she had stopped shaking him, and she laughed as she backed away a little. "Ah, no, sorry, that's me. I'm just so happy you're…"

The way she broke off in mid-sentence made his chest constrict with worry, and indeed, a moment later she had gripped his shoulders again in a gesture that felt decidedly more panicky than the first time. "But that's not important right now! Fear, we need your help! Riley's in danger!"

That woke him up more thoroughly than even the guilty thoughts had managed, and he forced his eyes open despite her brightness. "What's happening?" he demanded as he pushed himself into a sitting position, and then he almost passed out again from dizziness as the room started spinning around him.

"Easy," Sadness was saying from somewhere beside Joy. "Don't push yourself."

"He'll have to!" Anger called over. "Riley's gone freaking crazy!"

"What's happening?" Fear asked again as he got up from the sofa, supported by both Joy and Sadness. "What's the danger?"

"Riley's taken the monkey thing a bit too literally," Disgust provided in a drawl. "She's climbing a tree."

"She's _what_?!" Fear yelped and shook off the girls as he raced to the console, almost tripping over his own two feet in the process.

"Welcome back," Disgust added quietly in a rare show of concern, but right now, he didn't have the mind to wonder about that. He hurried to reach out for the two main levers…

But then he saw the crack in the plastic. The one he had caused, right before Riley had decided that his input wasn't welcome anymore. For a moment, his vision swam, as in front of his inner eye, Headquarters was drained of any color by the white light engulfing him…

"Well, _do something_!" Anger urged him with a scowl.

Fear snapped out of it, but it was no use. He couldn't touch those levers, or _any_ control on the console. He felt rooted to the spot. He was terrified. "She's gonna attack me," he whispered.

"She needs your _help_!" Anger boomed. "Whether she wants it or not!"

"B-but…" Fear whimpered. What could he do? Riley didn't want him. How could he be sure she'd even listen? How could he be sure she wouldn't _kill_ him this time?

* * *

Riley could feel the uneasiness growing in the back of her mind. It wasn't enough to compel her to act on it, but part of her realized this wasn't the best idea she had ever had, even as she kept pushing on, going higher and higher.

The small branch _really_ didn't look as if it could hold her weight. But she wouldn't chicken out now. She wouldn't give up before she had reached the top, and she still had a few feet to go.

She bit her lip as she tried to stand on the branch in a way that would let her keep her balance. She could do this.

Right?

* * *

"This is not the time to start being afraid of _Riley_!" Anger bellowed at him.

"Shut up!" Joy cut in firmly. "We need Fear's help _because_ he's afraid!"

Fear narrowed his eyes in confusion. _Something_ was wrong here, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Joy now turned to Sadness. "Could you…?" she mumbled a little sheepishly.

Sadness gave a small nod and came over to stand beside Fear and take his hand. "I realize you and Riley had a falling-out," she said quietly, "and I can see why you're afraid to try and guide her again. But the console worked for us the entire time that you were unconscious, and nothing happened."

That "entire time" thing had his hands go cold, but he realized they were in a hurry. Not that that served to calm him down. He could feel his eyes welling up with tears at her earnestness. "Yeah, because she meant to get rid of _me_ , not of you guys!"

"Fear," Sadness whispered. "Riley loves you."

Disgust snorted. "Yeah, and that's why she attacked him, right?"

Fear flinched.

But Sadness ignored the interjection. "Fear," she repeated, putting her free hand onto his shoulder now. "Riley loves you."

Fear released a shuddering breath. How could Sadness just say that? How could she be so sure about it?

But no matter how she did it - she _was_ sure.

"Right," he mumbled, and then felt completely weirded out when he saw them all slump in relief.

Huh. That was new. But he'd take it.

Drawing a deep breath, he focused his attention back on the console. His heart was pumping in his chest as he reached out for the levers with shaking fingers.

* * *

Riley was still trying to keep her balance on the thin branch. Spreading her arm to one side and lightly touching the trunk with the other, she tried to stand up in a way that would stop her from swaying.

And then she overbalanced - and panic took over.

Her arm shot out almost automatically. She grabbed onto the branch above her, and in an instant, the swaying stopped.

For a moment, she just stood there, trying to calm her suddenly erratic breathing. Why was she afraid? She had vowed not to be afraid again! Was this her limit? Was this as far as she could go?

She was so caught up in her self-doubts that she only faintly registered the creaking sound at her feet.

Until the branch gave out under her.

* * *

Fear screamed as the ground lurched below them. He managed to cling to the console for dear life, but everyone else was thrown across Headquarters, at least judging by their shouts and shrieks.

But it lasted only a moment, and then gravity was back to normal.

"Is everyone all right?" he cried out as he got Riley's other arm onto the branch as well. She was dangling there without anything to step on. And there was no time. If the branch _below_ her couldn't hold her weight, the smaller one above was even less safe. And the fir tree's needles were biting into her palms. How long could she hold on?

"Scrapes and bruises!" Joy called over from where she seemed to have crashed into the memory racks. "You just focus on Riley!"

"Right," he muttered, trying to do just that. No ground below them. A feeble support above them. Nowhere to go. What should he do? What should he _do_?

"How long has her weight been on that thing?" he demanded.

"Four, maybe five minutes," Anger provided as he raced back over to the console. "Do you need help?"

Four or five minutes. That gave them three on this one, tops. And Riley was facing away from the trunk. They couldn't see a way out.

"Someone get me the memory of when she first looked at this tree!" Fear commanded. He'd never much liked ordering the others around, but all their lives were at stake here. There was no time to worry about offending them.

Anger just gave a curt nod and ran off to join Joy among the scattered memories. "Should be a red one!" he shouted over to her.

Fear tuned him out. "Disgust, Sadness?" he called.

"Right here!" Disgust spoke up from behind him, startling him with her close proximity.

"What happened while I was out? No feelings, just the facts." He stumbled over the words in his haste. His mind was already three steps ahead. As he spoke, he tightened Riley's grip on the branch and willed her to stop struggling as much as possible. The less she moved, the lower their chances of destroying the lifeline they were hanging onto.

Disgust furrowed her brows. "Er, Riley fell down, twice, and hurt her right hand and knees…"

"How could that _happen_?!" Fear wailed, but, no, this wasn't the time. "Go on."

At his outburst, Disgust gave something of a cross between a shrug and a flinch. "She kept stumbling on her way through the park, and we tried to keep her safe, but we, well, couldn't. And then she came back here, but she didn't go on the ice, she just climbed up the tree instead. That's it, really."

He could hear Riley whimpering. There was no time. He tried to get her to look down and find an escape route, but a slight creaking forced him to have her look up instead, and he dared not try this blind. "Where is that memory?" he barked over his shoulder.

"They're all scattered!" Joy called back frantically.

* * *

Riley was desperately trying to remember if she'd seen any other branches below, _anything_ to step on, but her mind was a hazy mess. Blind panic was flooding her senses, and she felt hot tears well up in her eyes at her own helplessness.

This spot was more or less secluded! If she fell now, if she managed to knock herself out or lose her phone or something, then no one would find her! No one would even know where she was!

She was all on her own.

"Help…" she breathed.

* * *

Fear thought he felt his heart skip a beat. "I've got you, Riley," he whispered at the screen, gently laying one hand onto the console amidst the general commotion. "I've got you. Trust me on this one."

"Found it!" Anger exclaimed, and Fear whirled around to see him scramble to put up a red memory orb into the projector.

* * *

 _Now_ Riley remembered! She'd seen this tree before she'd jumped, disregarding everything because she'd been so mad at Alex. But she hadn't really checked for specifics, had only sent a quick look up.

Should she risk just stepping somewhere?

* * *

"Give me that!" Fear snapped and rushed over to take the memory out of the projector. It had just been a quick look on Riley's part, but it would have to do.

"Does anyone know which one we were standing on?" he demanded as he replayed that brief moment again and again.

"Um…" Sadness piped up as she came to stand next to him. When he replayed the memory again, she pointed. "That one!"

He replayed it again. Might be true, yes. "Are you sure?"

She started wringing her hands. "I, w-well, I, yeah… I guess…"

He bit his lip to stop his teeth from chattering. That was _not_ in any way reassuring! But again, it would have to do.

"All right," he called as he pushed the memory into Sadness's hands and scrambled back over to the console. "We've got _one_ shot at this. Riley can't hold on for longer, and the branch will break anyway. Someone call Long Term Memory and have them send up any and all knowledge Riley has about first aid. Just in case."

"I'm on it!" Joy acknowledged and raced to the console to get that out of the way before he had to use the controls.

Fear knew they were short on time, but he needed to be as calm as possible. So he drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then released it, slowly, carefully.

"Here we go," he whispered as he leaned back over the console.

* * *

Riley's nerves were fluttering, but in a sudden rush, the fog around her senses lifted, and she felt more clear-headed than she had all day.

She thought she knew of a branch that was sturdy enough to hold her, but she couldn't see it without turning around. She'd have to try to reach it by touch.

Her gaze hardened. She could do this! She would _have_ to do it!

Moving would be difficult like this, but she didn't dare loosen her grip to reposition her hands, so it would have to be enough. The branch she was thinking of should be behind her and slightly to the right. As carefully as she could, she started swinging back and forth. The creaking of her support above was ringing in her ears like a whiplash, but then her feet touched the trunk.

"Almost there," she muttered.

When she next swung back, a bit further to the side than before, there was no resistance. She stretched as much as possible…

And then her left foot got caught on something.

"Got it!" she blurted out. The branch was just in her reach. She hooked the toes of both feet behind it, but she'd _have_ to let go of the one above now.

* * *

The others were cheering.

"Fear, you rock!" Joy whooped, even though it still sounded strained.

Fear felt himself slip into hyperventilation. He wasn't entirely sure if he'd hold out long enough to get Riley to safety. But he'd have to do his best.

There was something below her feet, but at this angle, that didn't really count as support. It went against everything he believed in, but he'd have to pry her hands off the branch.

* * *

Riley bit her lip. She knew this was a gamble, but she had no choice.

And no time to waste. With a small whimper, she let go of the branch with her right hand. For a split second, the world below her seemed to sway and tilt... and then she grabbed on again, closer to the trunk. The same thing with the other hand now.

Inch by inch, she worked her way over to the trunk, her footing growing more and more steady by the second. A moment later, she could feel solid wood at her back.

From this angle, she could now see another branch near her hands, one that was growing over the one her feet were on, and with another quick grab, she had caught it so that she was facing the trunk…

And then, finally, she was sitting on the branch, legs dangling down on either side, and was embracing the trunk with both arms. And she had never felt anything more beautiful than its solidity.

* * *

Fear released a huge breath. The others cried out in relief and then started hugging each other. Joy tried to hug him, too, but he shook her off. "We're not safe yet!" he insisted.

"But not in _quite_ as mortal danger as before!" Joy quipped, getting in a quick button push, and he recognized that as one that would make Riley proud of what she had accomplished.

He had Riley look around, then, and now that she wasn't dangling in mid-air like a rag-doll anymore, it was easier to find a path down. He made her pick a sturdy-looking branch and slowly start on her way to the ground.

"Careful…" he muttered. "Take it easy…"

He couldn't even look at the controls. Good thing he knew his way around the console by touch alone, because he was completely unwilling to tear his gaze from the screen for even a second. He wasn't going to miss even the _slightest_ sign of potential danger!

"How did we even get _up_ here?" he complained. "What did you _do_ to her?!"

The accusation elicited a remarkable amount of hemming and hawing behind him, but no one seemed willing to actually answer that question.

He didn't have to hold out for long. As difficult as it had been to recover from the almost-fall, climbing down in a more controlled manner was surprisingly easy due to how athletic and flexible Riley was, and when she was finally hanging onto the lowest branch that he had been able to find, just a few inches above the ground, he allowed her to let herself fall and then lie down in one fluid movement. She needed a moment to catch her breath, and there was almost no snow below the tree, so he saw no harm in granting her that time.

"The germs…" Disgust began, but Anger shushed her with a growl.

Fear also felt himself grow weak now as all the pent-up energy left him, and he clutched the console for support as he slumped to his knees in complete and utter exhaustion. He couldn't _believe_ they had gotten through that.

"Are you all right?" Sadness wailed, but a faint glowing to his left told him that Joy was already standing by his side, and he faintly registered her touching a few more controls over his head.

"It's gonna be okay, everyone!" she claimed as she placed one hand on his shoulder, and it was one of those rare moments when he recognized her optimism as fake, because he was pretty sure that he was _not_ okay right now. "Fear's just tired, he's had a rough day! Fear, why don't you go lie down and let us handle the rest? Long Term Memory just sent over the first aid stuff, and once the Train of Thought arrives, we can make Riley patch up her wounds a bit and then…"

"No," he mumbled, a little surprised at the state he was in - but then he remembered what had happened before the branch had broken. His fight with Riley. The electrocution. Good thing that hadn't been on his mind up there; that could've messed everything up.

"No," he repeated, "I'll get her home." And he forced himself back into a standing position.

It took him a moment to bring himself to lay his hands onto the console again, but when he did, it immediately abandoned Joy's yellow glow in favor of his purple one. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Even though he knew better.

Joy gave a sigh. "Fear, look, there's no need to push yourself. We've got this, the worst is behind us…"

"I will get her home," he repeated slowly, firmly. He respected her leadership position, but _he_ was the authority on danger here. He wouldn't leave Riley alone until she was home. "And frankly, I don't care if anyone has a problem with that."

Disgust released a harsh, tired bark of laughter, and then surprised everyone when she slumped down to sit on the floor. "Fear," she exclaimed, "I have _never_ been happier to let you drive."

* * *

When Riley felt reasonably certain that she had herself under control again, she got up and collected her skates.

She wasn't quite sure what had just happened. How had she gotten down from there? How could she have been so strong when she had been so terribly afraid?

Still tired and out of breath, she fought her way through the trees again, and this time, she even remembered to avoid the one that had hurt her before.

* * *

"Can someone please keep the first aid memories nearby?" Fear asked no one in particular as he kept driving. "I want her to take care of herself as soon as she's home." He hoped that wouldn't be too late to avoid any serious consequences, but Disgust's immediate confirmation reassured him a bit.

"Should we take the bus?" Sadness suggested. "She'd be home earlier, and she wouldn't have to hurt for so long."

But Fear shook his head. "The stop's too far away. We can just walk. Will give her more time to think, too."

Of course, that would mean that he'd have to put in more effort into her movements. Now that he wasn't in danger prevention mode anymore, the thought of using the controls felt like a lead weight in the pit of his stomach, and he flinched every time he touched something, even though so far, Riley had been cooperative. But how long would she _stay_ that way?

Or should he try and stop worrying about it? Yeah, he'd made her lose a friend, but then he'd saved her life. Maybe that counted for something.

He snapped out of his doubts when he noticed Anger standing beside him. Great. Were they trying to get him away from the controls again? "Look, I am _not_ leaving until…"

"Wasn't gonna make you," Anger cut him off in a surprisingly gently tone. "Sadness says when the two of us work together, we can create regret. Should be congenial to you, huh?"

Fear blinked. Actually, yes, it was. "How does that work?" he asked, slightly turning around to find Sadness, and had to smile a little when he noticed her already standing behind him.

* * *

Riley still couldn't shake off the dread as she walked through the dark streets of San Francisco, but now a new sensation joined the mix.

How could she have been so _stupid_? She had wanted to _avoid_ getting hurt! She had been trying not to make her parents worry again! Oh, she should have gone home straight away; they'd have been worried then, too, but not like _this_! What if they noticed her bruises? Or that her pants were torn at the knees? She didn't want to lie to Mom and Dad, but she definitely didn't want them to _know_ , either!

She shouldn't have let what Alex had said get to her. She should have been level-headed about this. And she definitely shouldn't have let someone else tell her what she was supposed to _feel_!

* * *

Fear couldn't help but get distracted when a red-and-purple memory orb entered the system. The concept of mixed feelings was still so new and weird to him. The orb was really bright, but not quite a Core Memory, which was why it joined the others on the rack. Actually, he did a double-take at that point, but yes, Joy and Disgust had been putting the memory orbs back where they belonged while he hadn't been looking.

"Focus," Anger chuckled at him.

Fear whirled around again. Even though this was one of the nicest moods he had ever seen Anger in, he still couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "Why are you all so…"

"So _what_?" Disgust deadpanned.

"Supportive!" Fear blurted out, waving his arms around for emphasis. "It's freaking me out!"

Anger smirked. "And you're asking that _after_ you've saved our lives?"

"You were supportive before that!" Fear insisted, but then realized that that sounded as if he hadn't _wanted_ them to. "I… I mean…"

Joy smiled and clapped him on the back. "Well, that happened when we realized that _we_ just _couldn't_ save Riley this time."

"Don't worry," Disgust snarked. "I'm sure it's not gonna last."

"Don't say that," Sadness muttered. "He's gonna believe you mean it."

But Fear found himself smiling a little. He hadn't actually needed a translation for that one. "Thanks, everyone. And, um…" He gulped. His nerves were fluttering, but he _had_ to get this out. "S-sorry for being such a prick lately. I, if… if I hadn't stressed Riley out like that, she wouldn't have…"

"You didn't know this would happen," Sadness cut in gently. "And you were watching out for her. You don't need to apologize."

Fear looked to the others for confirmation, but it didn't seem as if anyone was going to contradict her.

"Okay, then," he muttered, and turned around to the console just in time to see Riley unlock the front door to her home.

* * *

Riley gave a sigh as she fiddled with the key. She'd managed to calm down a little on the trip home, and she wasn't even hurting all that much anymore. But now that she would come face to face with her parents after all this, the anxiousness bubbled up inside of her again.

Truth was, she was still a little shaken from what had happened. If she hadn't grabbed that branch above her beforehand…

"I'm home!" she called out as she closed the door behind herself, because as much as she wanted to avoid her parents until she'd at least patched up the bruises, she knew they had probably worried about whether or not she would come back _this_ time.

And sure enough, she didn't have long to wait until she heard her mother's answer drifting down from the first floor. "Welcome home, sweetie! Where've you been all this time? Is something the matter?"

Riley felt as if she should be smiling at that, even though her lips wouldn't quite cooperate. Yes, they worried a bit too much after everything that had happened, but the concern was still welcome; it told her that they loved her. And yet, she halted. It would only hurt them if she told them what had happened, right?

"I'm fine!" she lied after a moment's hesitation. "I was playing in the park!"

* * *

Fear tried to relax. Maybe he could pull this off. They were both out of sight. He dared hope that this would go smoothly for once.

"Shouldn't she have told them the truth?" Disgust complained, her arms crossed in annoyance. "You of all people should _want_ them to worry about her, right?"

"No," Fear argued nervously as he guided Riley up the stairs. One step at a time, one step at a time… "Not when the danger is already over. And if they worry too much, they'll try and restrict Riley's movements, and that's gonna backfire, because then she will…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Disgust cut him off and rolled her eyes before joining the others who had retreated to the sofa. "I think he's fine," she grumbled to them as what sounded like an afterthought.

Fear didn't _feel_ fine, though. Every second, he expected Riley to lash out at him again. That she'd listened to him once didn't mean that she was back to _wanting_ to listen to him, right? Not now that he'd made her lose Alex.

But it wouldn't be long until the day was over. He had to hold out for maybe an hour. No more than that. Just an hour. He could do this. Could he?

* * *

Somehow, Riley managed to arm herself with disinfectant and a few band-aids, retreat to the bathroom, and lock the door, all before actually seeing her parents.

Her injuries weren't really that bad, though, so it only took her a few minutes to get properly patched up. But during it all, she kept shivering at the thought of what _could_ have happened. She could have broken her legs - or her neck. She could've knocked herself out, or…

Her mind kept running in circles, but she supposed that was what she deserved for being so reckless.

* * *

Fear could barely operate the controls with the way his hands were shaking.

Was this the right thing to do? He still thought big mistakes had to be properly processed in painstaking detail, but… the last time he'd made Riley do that, it hadn't gone all that well. Plus, this time, there was _no_ way she could've missed that it _had_ been a mistake. Did he have to keep spooking her with the what-ifs?

And why was he doubting his own doubts now? Was he just trying to avoid spending time with Riley?

How could that have happened?

His hands stilled on the console and then slumped to hang limply at his sides. His gaze trailed off into mid-air.

How could that have _happened_? He loved Riley. He'd always thought she loved _him_ , loved all of them. How could the two of them have drifted so far apart?

And then several hands reached out for the console from beside him, with a few more coming to rest on his back and shoulders.

"Guys…" he muttered, but Joy shushed him with a wave and a smirk.

"Don't think you can just have the console to yourself here," Anger growled.

"Yeah, Riley's gonna forget what the rest of us feel like," Disgust added as she flipped a switch.

Fear turned his head from side to side, trying to make sense of their sudden intervention. Had they changed their minds about leaving him in charge for now? But, no, that didn't seem to be it. Maybe they had picked up on what he'd been thinking?

"You don't have to do this alone," Sadness whispered to him.

He didn't know why, but at their immediate presence, he felt a bit of the overwhelming tension leave him. And he tried his best to relax as much as possible when Sadness gently took his hand and placed it and her own next to each other on one of the larger buttons.

* * *

Riley wasn't sure what she was feeling right now. This was all just so messed up. She was probably just tired, she supposed, and released a long, drawn-out breath of air as she reentered the hallway.

"There you are, sweetie!"

She whirled around at her mother's words, startled by the close proximity, and then jumped again when she was wrapped in a sudden embrace. She had to do her best not to burst into tears at the gentle gesture. She knew she didn't deserve the kindness; not after what she had almost done to Mom and Dad, _again_. She could feel the shame burning in her chest, in her throat, and if this went on for much longer, she knew she was going to start sobbing.

But then they parted, and she thought she had herself under control again. Well, almost. She knew that searching look on Mom's face. And indeed…

"I take it today didn't go so well?" Mom guessed as she reached out a hand to stroke her hair, and Riley closed her eyes as she leaned into the touch.

"Alex… was angry with me when she left," she mumbled. And that wasn't even a lie.

Mom furrowed her brows in sympathy. "I'm sorry, sweetie. But Alex is not the only girl in this town. You'll find a new friend eventually. You just need to be patient."

"You think so?" Riley whispered, lowering her gaze. It couldn't be that easy. If it was, why didn't she have a new friend _already_? She'd been living in San Francisco for weeks now!

Mom leaned forward to place a fleeting kiss on her forehead. "You're a wonderful person, Riley, and _someone_ is gonna realize that eventually. All you can do in the meantime is wait." Then her face split into a smile. "Wait, and eat dinner. Dad's making chicken! How's that sound?"

"I…" Riley mumbled. "I'm not… really hungry right now… can I just go to bed?"

Mom seemed startled as she blinked a few times. "Are you sure?" she probed, but when Riley nodded, she smiled again. "Well, goodnight then, sweetie. See you in the morning!"

"Night, Mom," Riley mumbled as she retreated to her room and closed the door behind herself.

* * *

The day was almost over, Fear kept telling himself. He'd just have to hold out for a few more minutes.

Riley was changing into her pajamas… sitting down on her bed… _lying_ down on her bed… pulling the blanket all the way up to her chin…

And then he breathed a huge sigh of relief when her eyes drifted closed and the screen went dark.

"And - that's - _it_ , everyone!" Joy shouted, raising her arms into the air in exultation. "Sure this wasn't the best day of our lives, but you know what? _It's over now_! Woohoo!"

The others started cheering, too, and Fear felt a small smile sneak its way onto his face at the sound. If he thought back to dangling from that branch, it seemed a little surreal that they were all in such a good mood now.

But his musings were interrupted when Joy grabbed him by the back of his collar. "And _you_ , my friend, are going to bed now!" she announced, laughing as she dragged him after her and up the ramp to the Sleeping Quarters.

"I'm not gonna… _argue_!" Fear choked out through his constricted throat. "Just don't… _suffocate_ me…" It _would_ be kinda disappointing to die from _this_ after somehow surviving Riley's attack, wouldn't it?

Sleep did sound good, though, even if he'd already been out for more than three quarters of the day. But hey, it wasn't as if there was anything left for him to do right now. He wasn't even on Dream Duty tonight - though even if he had been, he doubted they would've let him go through with it right now.

It felt a little weird to have them watch out for him. After all, watching out for _them_ as parts of Riley's personality was actually what _he_ was supposed to do.

But he didn't have the mind nor the energy to contemplate that right now, and he barely even flinched when Joy pushed him backwards onto his bed in a way that made him trip and almost fall to the floor instead.

"We are _not_ gonna wake you tomorrow morning," she announced with a finality that left no room for argument, even as she was smiling at him.

He sat down on his bed as an excuse to avert his gaze. "It's okay. I didn't expect you to."

Silence. He'd meant for it to be a mere statement of fact, but he supposed it left plenty of room for interpretation.

"Riley loves you!" Joy claimed a moment later, distinctly reminding him of Sadness when she had said the same thing. "So it's gonna be fine. Just you wait."

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled, because he had no idea what else he should say. But it seemed to be enough for Joy, for she just wished him a good night and sweet dreams as she bounced out of the room and closed the door with an enthusiastic bang.

Fear put his hands over his eyes for a moment. Whatever his dreams would be tonight, he was pretty sure that "sweet" had no place in them. He could already imagine it - looming trees with scary-looking faces and dead eyes, a horde of black-haired girls throwing skates at him… and light. Blindingly white light that enveloped him, overpowered him, suffocated him…

But he tried to block out those thoughts as he let himself fall back onto his bed. He had no energy left to fight those dreams. So he'd just have to let them take over.

At least sleep meant he wouldn't have to touch the console for now.

* * *

 **Note:** Would love to hear what you thought about this chapter! Not sure how much is left, so the actually-last-this-time chapter might be a short one; just so you know. But I'm planning to have it up by Sunday at the latest. See you then!


	4. Redamancy

**Note:** A huge thank you to everyone for the massive support! I can't tell you how grateful I am for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!

This time, it really _is_ the last chapter. And yeah, I guess I got a little fancy with the chapter titles. But they say what I want to say, so I don't care. ;)

* * *

Fear actually slept through most of Sunday, and that told him that the others' concern about him was justified. But thankfully, his sleep had been mostly dreamless - exhaustion seemed to have won out over anxiety for once - so when he got back to work in the evening, he felt more rested and alive than he had in weeks.

And sure enough, Disgust gave him one of her rare, albeit lopsided smiles when he joined them at the console. "You look better," she observed, nodding in her peculiar brand of approval that he had never quite understood.

"I _feel_ better," he admitted, and he practically drank in the smiles the comment elicited all around him. "How're we doing?"

"We've been playing board games all day!" Joy announced brightly, fully turning away from the console and raising her arms over her head in jubilation. "I think Mom wanted to cheer Riley up, and Dad played along, and we won a lot, and then we went to get cake, and then the sun was shining and creating sparkles in the snow, and everything was glittering! Shame you couldn't see that."

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Maybe it'll happen again tomorrow. Well, but, looks like you didn't need me, huh?"

"Just this once," Sadness muttered.

His smile widened at the affirmation, and he did his best not to think about what could've happened when Riley had gone outside. But now she was sitting on the couch and watching an animated movie with Mom and Dad, so she _was_ safe for the moment.

"Oh, and the pants thing was fine," Joy added. "Mom saw the damage when she was doing the laundry, but Riley told her she didn't know what happened and I don't think Mom noticed anything." Her halo faded a bit at that point, and sure enough, Fear saw his own sudden dejection mirrored in the others' faces. They all missed Honesty Island. Not mentioning stuff was one thing, but outright _lying_ …

"Well, but she said the truth about scraping her hand on the first fall and it wasn't too bad," Joy reported, perking up again. "Anyway, we're probably gonna go to bed after the movie." She gave a shrug. "So maybe you should just go back to sleep, too?"

"Nah, there's no way I can sleep now," Fear muttered, then cleared his throat. "Uh, shall I take over Dream Duty?"

The others all fell silent.

"As if," Anger then grumbled.

"Okay, you're _not_ better," Disgust deadpanned.

And a moment later, Fear realized what they had probably been thinking - it _had_ been really odd for him to volunteer for Dream Duty not so long ago. "Ah, no, I mean… I'm not planning to keep her awake, or make her ruminate or something. I really just, you know… want to be useful."

"You _are_ useful," Joy stressed and bounced over to playfully punch his shoulder. "But, yeah, just means more sleep for us, so who are we to argue?"

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Disgust drawled, looking him up and down.

He chuckled again as he went to get a chair and a cup of tea. "Come _on_ , guys, I just wanna contribute something." But he wasn't the only one who hadn't done much today, he noted; as he passed the short term memories, a quick look told him that the majority of them were yellow or blue - or both, which still kinda weirded him out.

He got back to the console just in time to see the breathtaking view of the stars on their ceiling vanishing behind Riley's eyelids, and he felt kinda relaxed as he sat down, propped his feet up on the console, and wished the others a good night. And before he knew what was happening, they had all returned the sentiment and retreated up the ramp. It was just Riley and him now.

Just Riley and him.

With a frown, he placed his feet back on the ground. Better not take any chances here. He knew it was irrational, but he was still just so uncomfortable about touching the console.

The crack was gone, though, he noted; it seemed as if the others had called the Mind Workers up here to repair the console. Which meant that there was nothing left to indicate that there had been a problem at all - the physical damage was gone, he wasn't feeling half-dead anymore, and something told him that he and the others had managed to find some sort of balance again.

But it wasn't okay, he knew. Riley was still lonely, and he was still…

He had to admit it to himself. He was afraid of her.

One of the few things in his life that he had never really questioned was his place here in Headquarters. He'd always believed that he'd materialized here for a purpose, and that that purpose was to protect this sweet, little girl from any harm that might befall her. And while that was often quite difficult, and constantly freaked him out, he'd always known that this was where he belonged.

But now?

A high-pitched shriek had him nearly spill the contents of his cup over himself. But it was just the dream - it had started while he had been busy fretting over existential questions, and by the looks of it, it had apparently been playing for a while. He saw Riley running through a thick forest full of fir trees, slipping on the ground that was completely frozen solid, and most decidedly panicking over something that he had thankfully missed; even if he hadn't been able to see her face, there was no mistaking the fact that the console had turned a deep purple.

With a frown, he dragged his chair a few inches further away from it.

He knew he shouldn't be doing this. But he didn't know how to move on. He had no idea how to act around Riley.

Her dreams pretty much seemed to match what he'd been imagining last night, though, and he wasn't quite sure whether to be happy about that small connection between them, sad that she had to go through this, or confused that those dreams seemed to have come a night too late. Or had it been like this last night, too? He should've asked the others what Riley had been dreaming last night.

For a lack of anything meaningful to do, he started actually, you know, _drinking_ the tea, as the stuff would have great difficulty with calming his nerves if he just left it in the cup.

And predictably, now the dream took a turn for the worse. The frozen ground opened up beneath Riley, and the only reason she didn't fall was because she managed to grab onto a branch that had appeared out of nowhere, and then she was hanging on for dear life…

And Fear marveled at how calm he was through it all.

He couldn't understand it. This should have him screaming, running away to cower behind one of the sofas. Had this been playing a few days ago, he would most definitely have woken them all up by now. But instead he was just sitting there, as if nothing interesting was happening.

Maybe it was that he was way more relaxed than he could remember ever being? Or maybe that he'd already gotten Riley through this exact thing? It certainly wasn't the tea; it had never helped _that_ much before.

Whatever it was, he wasn't complaining. But he could see the controls slightly shifting in a way that he knew made Riley tremble. Oh, he knew. He'd done that to her countless times.

It had been for her own good, he told himself. He'd been protecting her. He'd been looking out for her. But she didn't want that anymore. Or maybe she did? She _had_ been listening to him up in the tree. But if she was this capricious about the whole thing, then how could he ever guide her again without being terrified that the very intervention that was supposed to keep her safe might lead to even worse disasters?

With a sigh, he drank the last of his tea and then got up to get himself another cup. This was going to be one _long_ night.

* * *

When Riley was woken up on Monday morning, she knew the day was going to be terrible. Her dreams had been nonsensical and horrific, and she was aching all over, as if she hadn't slept at all.

"Good morning, little monkey," Dad was whispering to her, then leaned over to press a small kiss to her cheek. "Time to get up."

She blinked at him through sleepy eyes. Part of her just wanted to stay in bed all day, in the hopes of dreaming about something a little more pleasant, but she couldn't think of anything that would make her parents let her. "Morning Dad," she mumbled. "Sure, I'll be downstairs in a moment."

He kissed her again, then left the room with a smile, and Riley started rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes. Ugh. She didn't want to get up. But she knew she had to, so better not waste any more time and make it more difficult for herself.

Getting ready for the day didn't take her all that long, and when she went downstairs, Mom and Dad were already waiting for her with breakfast. She wasn't really hungry, though, so she just kept sipping on a glass of orange juice and nibbling on a piece of toast as she listened to Dad talk about some difficult meeting that he would be having in the morning.

But of course, it didn't take long until Mom picked up on her unusually dejected state. "Riley, sweetie, did you sleep well?"

Riley gave a sigh. "Not really," she admitted. Better to get this out of the way. Plus, she didn't want to snap at her parents again at such questions like she had done a while back. "But that happens. I'll be fine." Or at least she hoped she would. She sure wasn't fine right now.

* * *

For the moment, Sadness was in charge.

Fear was still a little surprised that Joy just let that happen - before the two had gotten lost, he could've counted the mornings on which Joy had _not_ been in charge on one hand. But so it was, and they all just watched from one of the sofas and let Sadness do her thing as she guided Riley through breakfast and then out the door on their way to school.

Riley wasn't all that fast, and she certainly wasn't enjoying the walk today. Their view kept getting obscured as she kept rubbing her eyes, and then they could see the tips of her fingers as she covered a huge yawn.

Fear furrowed his brows, but there had to be _these_ mornings, too, right?

"Hm, we're off to a rough start," Joy mused. "But hey, that means the day can only get better, right? I mean, what else could happen now?"

"We do _not_ need that question answered," Disgust quipped and nudged Fear's shoulder, but she was smirking as she said it.

"Thanks, I feel significant," he snarked back, and then almost got a little misty-eyed when they all started laughing - even Sadness was giggling a little.

And maybe he was imagining that, but Riley seemed to speed up a little. The fact that they were all in a good mood couldn't have been lost on her.

* * *

When Riley reached the school gates, she kinda felt as if she had just accepted her situation. The day wouldn't be all that good, but she was determined to find enjoyment in the small moments whenever she could.

And indeed, when she reached her classroom, laughter was drifting out of the open door and made her smile a little, too, but upon entering the room, she saw that it was because a few of the boys were playing catch with a half-eaten apple, which was kind of gross, now that she thought about it.

Watching them had made her halt in the door frame for a moment, but now she registered the cool girls staring at her because of it, and she felt a bit of cold sweat forming on her temple. She was probably looking like an idiot right now. Should she say something?

Ha! If Alex hadn't enjoyed her company, what made her think anyone else would?

"G-good morning," she stammered before she could change her mind, but then started approaching her desk without waiting for an answer.

Speaking of Alex, there she was, talking to a boy at the back of the class, and Riley could feel her gaze hardening as she stared over at her former friend. But before Alex could register the look full of venom, Riley turned away to sit down at her desk, and not a moment too soon, for the teacher entered the room at that exact moment.

Rather satisfied with her timing, Riley fished her books out of her bag. At least Alex wouldn't be in her line of sight all day. That would probably make paying attention to the teacher a little easier.

A sigh escaped her. In all honesty, she would rather have thought about having fun with Alex than to pay attention to the teacher.

* * *

For now, Fear was quite content with letting the others drive, as much as he hated to admit that to himself. But he couldn't have found an opening, anyway, not without rudely pushing away at least one of the girls. And he wasn't the only one with that problem.

"Why is this console so _small_ , anyway?!" Anger complained. "It's like we're not _supposed_ to use it all at the same time!"

"Maybe we're not," Sadness mumbled dejectedly.

But Joy shook her head. "Sure we are, or we wouldn't be _able_ to mix feelings! I'll call the Mind Workers later, see if they can't give us a little more room. It might take a while, but hey, we can still do an awesome job in the meantime, right?"

Fear felt himself perk up a little at the thought. A bigger console would be pretty sweet, actually. They wouldn't have to fight for access to the controls any longer. On the other hand, that way, the others would notice immediately when he was avoiding doing his job…

But there wasn't much they needed to do throughout the morning, anyway; they had learned a while ago that Riley's concentration worked best when they didn't interfere with it, so they mostly retreated to one of the sofas, with Joy occasionally bouncing over to the console to have Riley react to something funny, and Disgust almost vomited all over the controls as the half-eaten apple sailed over their head again. But at least they all had a good laugh at the ensuing dressing-down for the culprit.

Fear couldn't _quite_ share their amusement, though. It would've been his job to make sure the apple didn't hit them in the head. Yeah, it _hadn't_ , but he couldn't have known that beforehand.

Right. He needed to make an effort, here. If Riley didn't want him, she would have to let him know.

So when at lunchtime, after getting their tray, Joy seemed determined to just chat someone up and force them to eat lunch together, he interfered by firmly placing himself between her and the console. Without touching it, of course.

"We'll be judged!" he pointed out. "And then they'll all be laughing at us!"

"Not if we're smooth about it," Disgust argued light-heartedly, but there was a certain sparkle in her eyes. He couldn't quite figure out why, but something made him sure that she approved of his resistance. For whatever reason.

"And Riley wouldn't have to be all alone," Sadness whispered, but she was smiling a little.

"Great, I'll find someone, then!" Joy exclaimed and had Riley look around the room at her classmates.

"Pick a girl," Disgust instructed, crossing her arms. "The boys are immature. But not one of the cool girls, you should've left them alone."

"That one!" Joy decided and grabbed the main levers to compel Riley to approach whomever she had decided on.

With a yelp, Fear jumped in and closed his fingers around the levers, too. "Joy, we are not just gonna…"

Then it registered with him what he had just done.

A small scream escaped him as he scrambled backwards, away from the console, tripping over his own two feet until he was sitting on the ground in something of a daze. His ragged breaths were making him a little dizzy, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze from the console.

A moment later, he noticed that the others were all staring at him.

"You're not _still_ jumpy around Riley!" Anger burst out incredulously.

But Sadness shook her head. "Of course he is. They haven't really made up yet."

"I…" Fear stammered, trying to breathe a little more slowly. "I, I can't help it. I'm sorry. I just…"

"If randomly talking to someone is bad for Riley, wouldn't she want you to keep her from doing it?" Joy pointed out with a frown.

"I don't _know_ if she wants it!" he wailed. He didn't really know a _thing_ about what she wanted. Right now, he wished so badly he knew what Riley was thinking.

"Yeah, well, you're doing this wrong," Disgust deadpanned. "You're supposed to be afraid _for_ her, not _of_ her."

"Give him time," Sadness mumbled, and then came over and extended a hand to help him up from the ground.

"Thanks," he muttered and allowed her to drag him back into a standing position and over to the console again.

"I'm gonna talk to that girl now!" Joy announced.

But then a voice reached them from behind. "R-Riley?"

Joy's hands froze on the console.

" _No_ way!" Disgust burst out in alarm.

But Fear had recognized it, too. Alex's voice. This couldn't be!

"Let me at her!" Anger roared, and before Fear knew what was happening, their friend had forcefully pushed them all out of the way in his rush to reach the controls.

"Anger, don't!" Sadness called out frantically, but too late.

"What do you want?" they could hear Riley snap as she whirled around. "I don't need friends who don't accept me the way I am!"

But when Alex's face came into view, her furrowed brows and quivering lips made it quite clear that she was about to apologize.

"Anger, don't," Joy repeated a little softer and gently pulled him away from the console. "Fear, can you take over? If Riley isn't careful, she could lose Alex for good."

Fear thought he could feel himself go numb. Could he take over? He had no idea if he could.

"Do we _want_ this?" Disgust challenged, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure Riley would want to try and make this work," Sadness muttered.

"As long as Alex stays well within her rights…" Anger growled.

Joy turned her head to all sides, but there were no more arguments, so she nodded at Fear. "Yeah, we want this."

Taking a deep breath, Fear stepped a little closer to the console.

"Riley…" Alex started again, and Fear could hear everyone in Headquarters collectively holding their breaths. But then she trailed off and looked away, her eyes darting around as if searching for a way out.

As it was, Fear also wasn't sure what to do. What should he make Riley do? What would be the best way to ensure that Riley and Alex would go back to being friends?

"Well, do something!" Disgust urged impatiently, but Joy shushed her.

Fear felt a shiver running through him as he stared at the controls. He'd cost Riley her friend _once_. How could he be sure he wouldn't do it again?

"If I wasn't afraid from time to time," he suddenly heard Riley say, "I'd be _dead_ right now."

Slowly, Fear tore his gaze from the console to look up at the screen with wide eyes.

Had she _actually_ just said…?

"Did something happen?" Alex blurted out, and that was clearly _her_ Fear speaking. They couldn't always be sure with other people, but at least this once, it was glaringly obvious.

Fear had yet to guide Riley's reaction in some way. He still had trouble processing what had just happened. But before he'd made up his mind, he felt Joy's hands on his shoulders, slightly squeezing as if to reassure him. "I think you two should be fine now," she pointed out, and he could hear the smile in her voice as she said it.

She swiftly pushed a few buttons over his shoulder, and he saw Riley pull Alex into a quick hug right before Joy gently turned him around and embraced him, too.

* * *

"Do you want to eat lunch with me?" Riley asked as they pulled apart, and she could see Alex's face light up immediately, so she quickly put her statement into perspective. "I mean, we can talk then."

"Oh, yeah…" Alex muttered. "Uh, wait, I'll just get my tray."

Riley watched her go. She wasn't sure what to feel right now. Alex had ended their friendship for a silly reason - but they _had_ been friends, or at least about to _become_ friends, and Riley didn't just want to lose that. And the momentary relief really couldn't distract her from the fact that they needed to talk this out. She was _not_ going to let Alex force her into dangerous things anymore, and if that didn't work, then she wanted no part in this.

But it _did_ feel right to be side by side with Alex as they walked over to that bench Riley always sat on during lunchtime. Back in Minnesota, it had mostly been her and Meg all the time, and she had never really paid much attention about how to approach others because friendships had all just kind of happened.

But that hadn't worked here in San Francisco. She'd missed the togetherness. She'd missed it so badly to have someone to talk to.

As soon as they had sat down, Alex placed her tray on the bench and folded her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry," she blurted out. "I don't know what… I mentioned to Dad what happened, and got totally told off for it. He said he wished I was as responsible as you are, and that I shouldn't have pressured you, and I've never seen him so _angry_ in my life, and, and I just don't know, I'm so _sorry_. Can you forgive me?"

Riley frowned a little. She wasn't quite sure if Alex had _actually_ had a change of heart or if she was apologizing because her father had made her. Or if, maybe, she was just as lonely as Riley was. "If you don't force me into things again…" she started cautiously, but Alex was already shaking her head.

"I won't!" she insisted. "I promise!"

"I…" Riley muttered. "Um, yeah, sure. It's okay." Part of her didn't want to just let it go like that, but… talking to someone felt so nice…

And Alex, too, seemed decidedly more cheerful all of a sudden as she grabbed her tray and started to eat. "So what happened?" she asked around a mouthful of food. "You weren't _actually_ in danger, were you?"

"Yeah, I was _actually_ in danger!" Riley bit back, ignoring her own tray for the moment. "I…" She sighed. "I guess I was being a little reckless. I got this crazy idea to climb up one of the trees at the cove, and I… I was pretty high up when the branch I was standing on broke under me, and…"

"Oh, my gosh…" Alex whispered with wide eyes, and that felt better to Riley than the entire apology had done.

"I'd grabbed on to the branch above me beforehand," she tried to calm her friend - her friend! - even as her mind went back to that moment when she had been hanging in mid-air, terrified that this was it, the end of her life, and all due to her own fault. "If I hadn't, I would've fallen. And I… I don't think I would've survived that."

"Then I'm really glad you were careful," Alex said quietly.

Riley furrowed her brows in thought. "Yeah," she acknowledged. "Me, too."

* * *

Fear felt his lips pulling into the slightest of smiles as he laid a gentle hand onto the console and lovingly gazed up at the screen. "Me, too," he whispered.

* * *

 **Note:** And that's it! Hope you enjoyed the ride! Would love to hear your thoughts! :)

About future stuff: I'm tinkering with a humorous one shot, a short Sadness POV, something Bing Bong-related, and a massive Inside Out multi-chapter thingy. That last one will be my Camp NaNoWriMo project for July, but expect to see the other three soon-ish. And I bet that's not the end of it. So yeah, looks like you'll be stuck with me for a while. ;)


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